Research and Training Associate - J-PAL Global

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of more than 1,100 top researchers at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts innovative research and builds powerful partnerships to solve the world’s greatest challenges. J-PAL was launched at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2003 and is directed by Nobel laureates Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, along with Ben Olken. It has over 500 research, policy, scale, training, and operations staff across Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East, North America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. For more information visit povertyactionlab.org.

Position overview

J-PAL is recruiting a Research and Training Associate to contribute to its mission of promoting evidence-informed policy. This position is based at the J-PAL Global office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA. Visa sponsorship is not available. Only applications following all instructions at the bottom of this page will be considered. 

This position is part of J-PAL’s Research, Education, and Training (RET) team - a diverse and integrated group that works together in a fast-paced, collaborative environment with the goal of equipping policymakers, researchers, and staff with the necessary knowledge and tools to conduct rigorous impact evaluations.

J-PAL encourages diversity, equity, and inclusion in our work, and we value the diverse perspectives our staff bring to their roles and to the broader J-PAL community. We encourage people from all backgrounds, especially those underrepresented in the field of economics, to apply to this role. In your cover letter, you are welcome to share how your background and lived experiences have influenced your desire to work at J-PAL (this is entirely optional, just an opportunity for us to get to know you a bit better).

In this role, you will contribute to building AI tools to help J-PAL staff and researchers conduct their work/research more efficiently; develop new teaching and reference materials; and help with the planning and delivery of J-PAL’s course offerings to train policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and research staff to engage with randomized evaluations. You will work closely with our regional offices and J-PAL’s partner organizations, and you will have the opportunity to travel domestically and internationally to liaise with these partners and support or participate in training courses. You will also be exposed to the latest research in economics and work directly with affiliated researchers as they publish their research data or hire research assistants for their teams.

Principal duties and responsibilities

Your responsibilities may include:

• Contributing to greater research transparency and open data efforts by documenting and preparing research datasets for publication and building tools that streamline and facilitate these tasks for our research partners
• Building dashboards and other reporting infrastructure around J-PAL’s internal data
• Developing new, AI-based tools for J-PAL staff and research projects
• Researching and designing new teaching modules and preparing presentations, case studies, and manuals to train policymakers, researchers, and research staff on randomized evaluation methods
• Assisting in planning, organizing, and conducting training courses and workshops for key partners in governments, NGOs, and foundations around the world
• Supporting J-PAL’s online course portfolio, including MIT’s Data, Economics, and Design of Policy MicroMasters program, by serving as a Teaching Assistant for advanced courses, assisting students with assignments, and coordinating with others at MIT to successfully run each course
• Maintaining our tracking, monitoring, and evaluation systems for J-PAL training courses and conducting data analysis to assess learning and engagement in in-person and online courses
• Other assignments as needed as the position grows.

Qualifications and skills

• Education: A bachelor’s degree in economics, math, political science, education, international development, or other related fields is required. Master’s degree preferred. Training in and a strong technical understanding of econometrics and/or randomized evaluations is required.
• Work experience: At least 2 years of work experience is required (which may include experience gained as an undergraduate), including in quantitative data analysis/science, economics, or a related discipline. 
• Interest in Development and Policy: The ideal candidate will have a strong interest in poverty alleviation policy and research, as demonstrated by coursework and/or study or work abroad. Experience conducting field research in developing countries, and/or experience designing and running randomized evaluations is a plus, but not necessary. 
• Quantitative skills: Knowledge of data management, data analysis, and econometrics is required.
• Software: Must have a good command of Stata, R, or Python, with at least a base understanding of R or Python. Familiarity with LaTeX and GitHub, and exposure to other coding languages are a plus. 
• AI experience: The ideal candidate will have demonstrated experience applying AI, beyond basic generative AI usage, to improve workflows. This includes working knowledge of a coding language sufficient to be able to describe a project to an LLM, execute the generated code, and iteratively de-bug with the AI tool’s help and the ability to determine where and how AI tool use is responsible and ethical in one’s own work.
• Cultural competencies: You are comfortable and adept at working in a diverse and multicultural work environment, with colleagues, partners, and policymakers from around the world. You display cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Compensation

Information about the pay range and pay grade for this position can be found here.

Location: This position is based in Cambridge, MA, with an expectation of in-office presence at least two days per week (currently Tuesdays and Wednesdays). Staff may work remotely on the remaining three days. Hybrid policies are subject to change annually. We greatly value in-office presence and therefore this position, similar to others at J-PAL Global, is not eligible for full-time remote work.

Benefits

As a member of the MIT community, you benefit from more than just your salary. 

J-PAL hires highly qualified staff and rewards them accordingly. Total compensation packages are competitive for the non-profit international development field with excellent MIT benefits, including comprehensive health insurance, a 401(k) match and pension-based retirement plan, tuition assistance, commuter benefits, MIT community discounts, a generous vacation policy, and more.

As a J-PAL staff member, you would also be eligible to take the proctored exams in the DEDP MicroMasters courses to earn course certificates that count towards the DEDP MicroMasters credential at no cost.

We like working at MIT and think you will too.